Answers to common questions about where DNS Coffee's data comes from, how to request its removal, how to get the most out of the site, and how to get in touch.
All data on DNS Coffee comes from publicly available sources. Most of it is derived from public zone files, DNS queries to public nameservers, and public domain lists.
First Seen and Last Seen are observation dates, not registry events. First Seen is the first day a name appeared in a zone file we imported — or, for a TLD, in the root zone. It is not a registration or creation date. A domain registered in 2004 whose zone we only began indexing in 2011 reads as 2011 here, the same as one registered the day we started. If you need the actual registration date, look it up in WHOIS or RDAP; we do not collect it.
The floor is per zone, not site-wide. DNS Coffee began with four zones in 2011 and now imports over 1200, each with its own start date — shown as First Import on that zone's page, such as /zones/com. Nothing under a zone can be seen earlier than that zone's first import.
Where a name was already present at that point, we say so instead of quoting a misleading date: Before the zone's first import date when we can bound it that way, or before tracking when we cannot. Both mean the real date is earlier by an unknown amount.
Last Seen is the last day we observed the record, and Present means it is still there. A domain leaves its zone file when it stops having nameservers, which happens when it expires but also when it is parked, put on hold, or moved between registrars — so Last Seen is not an expiry or deletion date either. Zone files are periodic snapshots, so a name that appears and disappears between two imports may not be recorded at all.
A glue record is an IP address for a nameserver, published in the parent zone
alongside the delegation that points at it. It exists to break a circular dependency: if
example.com is served by ns1.example.com, then finding that nameserver's
address would require querying example.com — which you cannot reach until you
know the address. The com zone therefore carries the address itself, gluing the
delegation together.
Glue is only published when the nameserver lives inside the zone it serves. A domain delegated to a nameserver somewhere else — most domains, using their registrar's or a managed DNS provider's nameservers — needs no glue, because that nameserver's address is resolvable independently.
This is where all of our IP data comes from. We read zone files, not general DNS lookups, so an address appears on this site only if some zone we import publishes it as glue. That is why the IP pages describe addresses in terms of the nameservers pointing at them, and why an address serving no in-zone nameserver will not appear here at all — it is not absent from the DNS, just absent from the zone files.
DNS Coffee offers a private, authenticated REST API. See api.dns.coffee for the documentation and how to request access.
Automated scraping of dns.coffee is not permitted. If you need data in bulk or programmatically, use the API instead.
/q/<name> sends you straight to a domain,
nameserver, IP, or zone. If the term matches more than one thing, or nothing at all, it drops
you on the search page instead. For example, /q/example.com./domains/<name>, /nameservers/<name>,
/ip/<address>, and /zones/<name>.The records here are already public, so most takedown requests do not apply. For reference:
If you believe your case still warrants review, submit a request to [email protected] with your reasoning and enough supporting evidence to establish that you own the records in question. Each request is reviewed, and we may take action when it is warranted.
Questions, feature ideas, corrections, and any other constructive feedback are welcome at [email protected]. We read every message, and suggestions from users have shaped much of what the site does today.